How to DIY a Garbage Truck Bed

Have you ever looked at your kid's boring old bed and thought, "This could use a cool upgrade"? Well, buckle up, because we've got a wild idea for you! Why not turn that plain ole bed into a garbage truck bed? Yes, you read that right! A garbage truck bed that will make your little one's room into the envy of the neighborhood! My little boys are obsessed right now with garbage trucks and cans. 

Every Thursday on trash day, as soon as we hear the big truck come into our street, we are heading out to see him dump the cans into the big front bin. He always stops and raised the front bin into the air to dump the trash into the hopper. A few fist bumps and some Honk Honks later we are heading inside to do the same thing again when he picks up the trash bins across the street. And then again when the recycling truck comes into our street. 

If you can relate with us, you already have garbage truck decorations, trash truck T-shirts and over 20 trash bins and many garbage trucks! If so, then you know you have to top this all off and make a Garbage Truck Bed too!

 

 

What You'll Need:

Before you dive headfirst into this trashy project, make sure you have the following items on hand:

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Step 1: Get the cuts for the frame

Our Lowe's guy was the best and cut the big panels on their big saw already. He was so excited for us that he was willing to help as much as he could. It is cheaper to get two big 4'x8' plywood sheets and cut them vs getting the smaller precut pieces. 

At home we held the big side sheet (78"x45 3/8" - 198x115.5cm) onto the bed and measured how high the cut out needed to be so the rail wouldn't be visible from the outside. 

Since our little ones are too small to go up into a bunk bed, we took the slats and the ladder rungs out so they can stand and jump without hitting their head. 

We cut the door entrance the same width as the ladder (14 1/8" - 36cm). From that cut out piece, we cut out a door (23.5"x14 1/8" - 59.5x36cm) at the bottom.  

After all the cuts, we drilled two holes for the wheels. My little one wanted the wheels to turn, so we left a 1/4" gap to the floor. We made sure the wheels wouldn't stick out on both openings so it wouldn't become a tripping hazard.

My husband pulled out his handy sander and went to work to make all edges and rougher spots nice and smooth. Since we already chose the nicer plywood, the sanding wasn't that bad, and it didn't take long. 

 

 

Step 2: Painting 

My little one wanted a recycling truck, and so he picked out the color blue. We chose to use Krylon satin spray paint since it's less messy, and we didn't want any brush marks. We prepped the floor and taped of the back of the truck to spray the white color first on the front. We did two coats and a light sand (320grit) in between. 48hrs later, we taped of the white and painted the back of the truck blue. Again, two coats with a light sand in between. 

After it was done, we took a 400grit and sanded any rougher areas to make it smooth. We added a black stripe to the front panel (41.5"x24" - 105.5x61cm) to make it look like a bumper so the license plate will stick out too. 

 

 

Step 3: Designing and printing the decals

Now comes the fun part - let your creativity shine! Add details like headlights and a front grill. The more details you add, the more realistic your garbage truck bed will look. While we waited for the paint to dry, I went ahead and designed the decals on Cricut Design Space. Some ovals and circles for the headlights. Under pictures I found the license plate (where I added Stinky), the grill, vents, the recycling logo, and the speedometer. The little buttons decals for his dashboard where quickly created and then printed out. I also printed out little circles to cover the screw heads. 

After the paint was dry, I applied all the decals, stickers and the reflective tape. 

Voila! Your bed is starting to look like a real garbage truck.

 

 

Step 4: The dashboard - Let Your Imagination Run Wild

This was so much fun that I wanted to add so much more. But the boys are just 2 and 4, and boys have a habit of breaking things quickly.

We got the steering wheel and some push buttons to create a realistic feeling of sitting in a garbage truck. I asked our garbage truck driver if we could take a picture of his dashboard. They have so many buttons that I didn't even think of. 

These little push buttons are so perfect to simulate the functionality of the truck. We spaced them 1 3/4" apart and drilled 16mm holes. My husband added plumper's tape around the threads of the buttons to make them sit snug in the hole. We didn't want our kids to pull them out. I then added the stickers, so he knows what buttons he pushes. We tried to add a joystick for the grabber, but they were all too long to be installed. I grabbed a wooden egg, painted it black, and we made it look like a joystick so he can pretend he is moving the grabber up and down. 

Since this was the board on the inside (41"x24" - 140.5x61cm), we had to cut out 2 small little notches (1 3/4"x1 3/4" - 4.5x4.5cm) at the bottom left and right for it to sit right to fit around the bottom support rails. 

Step 5: Canopy 

I am not an advanced sewer to recreate the canopy the way that Ikea does it. My mom will be visiting soon, and then we will tackle that together. So, I just bought blue fabric (wider fabric so I don't have sewing lines) and laid it over the existing canopy and attached it with safety pins. Feel free to pull out your Heat Press and add a logo or saying to the top with your HTV / Iron-on. 

Step 6: Time to put this truck together

We started with the big side panel and screwed that to the existing Ikea Kura bed. We used a countersink drill bit first so the wood screws wouldn't split the wood and the screw heads will be even with the wood. We added little white and blue round stickers to cover up the screw heads. We added a little piece of cardboard to act as a shim under the door to create a small gap and then attached the hinges. 

When we attached the wheels, my husband cut out 2 small pieces of the plywood to add in the back since the screws were a little too long and we didn't want the boys to get hurt. 

We also quickly installed the front top panel (41.5"x12.5" - 105.5cmx31.8cm) and front hood with the same method as the big side panel.

 


Step 7: Trim pieces

You can stop here or make it look a little neater. We measured and cut little trim pieces to frame out the window to give it a cleaner look. I added some caulking since I like the clean look of it better. 

Step 8: Final touches 

Don't forget to make the bed comfortable for your little one. Add some cozy sheets and pillows. Maybe garbage truck sheets/blanket for good measure! After all, what's the point of a cool bed if it's not comfy?

And there you have it - a garbage truck bed that will make bedtime the highlight of your kid's day. So, roll up your sleeves, grab your drill and spray can, and get ready to transform that boring bed into a trash-tastic masterpiece!

 

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